Dive Review of
RIDING ROCK INN in
Bahamas/SAN SALVADOR ISLAND

CANADA,INDONESIA, THAILAND, CAYMAN ISLANDS, GALAPAGOS, MEXICO, ST.MARTIN,
USA,BAHAMAS

Dive Conditions

Dive profile is 130ft on first dive unless you go through a deeper
swimthrough with the group, 70 feet on the second dive and 100 feet on the
afternoon dive.

no dive restrictions outside of the normal  

NO FACILITIES YET. OUTSTANDING  VISIBILITY FOR PHOTOGRAPHY. I TOOK
THOUSANDS OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF SMALL CRITTERS ON THE WALL, BEAUTIFUL WIDE
ANGLE SCENERY IN SWIMTHROUGHS, LOTS OF ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS( friendly nassau
groupers, lazy turtles, stingrays, moray eels, hammerheads, reefsharks and
nursesharks on every dive. divemasters find big and small stuff for
everyone to enjoy.  

Overall Rating

This is the only island in the carribean that has schooling hammerheads.
the best wall diving i have ever done in the carribean. the wall starts a
few hundred feet from shore at 30-60 feet then a sheer dropoff to the lower
ledge at 170-270 feet then down to the abyss. boat rides are 3 min -55 min.
the 2 boats are very comfortable (42 foot)  with a bathroom and lots of
weather protection and sun deck. visibility is 100 feet plus in summer with
flat seas. only 2 dive operations on the island ,the other one(cattle boat
operator)  sends their divers to riding rock inn. there is a recompression
chamber on the island. the dive staff do everything for you. they bring
your gear to the boat where it stays all week, they clean it and bring it
back to your room at the end of the week, they change tanks for you and
bring it to the back of the boat for you so you do not have to walk with it
on. they love their job and are constantly helping whether it be a ride
into town or taking you to see something that is not on the island tour
that is a part of the dive package. they are working on getting National
Marine park status. there is rental gear but nothing to buy except
t-shirts. the only real nightlife is at the Riding Rock Inn bar call the
Driftwood inn which is covered with dive things autographed by divers and
fishermen. The fishing is world class with many records being set
there.Fishing excursion was awesome. caught blue marlin, tuna and
wahoo.Riding Rock Inn has been open since 1959 and is a diamond in the
rough. I cant get enough of it.People who know about San Salvador Island
seem to come back every year.

Throughout the weeks we seen schools of hammerhead sharks ranging from 3 -
15 and then on my last dive of the week, right before our picnic, I was
doing my safety stop and a large spotted eagleray came by, so I descended
to get some pics. Once I got back to the safety stop lines I seen a school
of hammerheads coming towards me. 26 hammerheads just slowly swam by.
awesome safety stop. the week before we had a 14 foot giant manta come from
the ledge at 250 feet up to us and swim around on top of the wall at 45
feet. A friend of mine phoned me to tell me that she seen/video taped a
school of 30 hammerheads in early sept. 2006. Because of the ease of
diving, no currents, no need for a compass, amazing visibility, from
seahorse and lettuce sea slug to scorpionfish and even lionfish to giant
mantas and schooling hammerheads, this place out-shines better known
Carribean and Bahamian dive locations. 

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